Re: Bonfire Night
 

and treacle toffee and baked patatoes (cooked in the bonfire)...and hot rum..or cider..yum..

and sparklers...lots and lots of sparklers..:thumbsup:

Re: Bonfire Night
 

I have some fireworks saved from July 4th. We call the man married to the crazy cat lady next door "Mr. Happy", I found a t-shirt with a grinning donkey and the caption "Mr. Happy", as luck would have it they are catholic too. I'm going to use my firepit on the 5th! I will throw some baked potatoes in there for you.

Re: Bonfire Night
 

Ooo...proper sausages and fried onions....my next door neighbour (when I was a kid) used to work for a paint company, we had a field at the back of the house and that's where we built the bonfire (putting people on watch at night so that none of the other kids took our wood) and we lit it with the aid of 1/2 used cans of paint....woooosh!! Great fun !:)

Re: Bonfire Night
 

the thought of sausages and fried onions mmm - well I did try to explain to someone here in the Bay area what Guy fawkes and bonfire night was and they really thought it was odd, and just something that the crazy brits do!!

However now I'm looking at the stuff thats out there for halloween, I wonder if we are so crazy?!?!?

Re: Bonfire Night
 

Americans seem to have really made a big thing of Halloween and made it more popular worldwide but I wonder how many of them know that they wouldn't have it at all if it weren't for the immigrants that landed there.

As for Guy Fawkes ....... anybody willing to try and blow up the Houses of Parliament again ?

Re: Bonfire Night
 

FFS, there wouldn't be anything here if it weren't for the immigrants. The Native Americans would still be stockpiling salmon, elk and berries this time of year and laying in for the winter weather.
Newsflash: yes, most of our celebrations are pirated from elsewhere.

Re: Bonfire Night
 

My friend was student teaching at a junior high when the subject was immigrants to America and the cultures they brought to these shores. He asked the question 'is America better for being built upon many different cultures or would it have been better to just stay with the Native American culture that was present when people arrived."

After a bunch of arguing back and forth, one not too bright student stood up, paused, and said 'immigrant culture is better. If we stayed with Indians, we wouldn't have the Playstation. We'd just be sitting around playing with feathers."

Re: Bonfire Night
 

you know that and so do I ...... but do they ?

Re: Bonfire Night
 

:thumbsup: sounds like fun..:lol:

Re: Bonfire Night
 

Well, I guess the 4th of July/Independence is all ours. And most of Columbus Day. OMG, what about Arbor Day?

Jeez, I hope so Lorna. It's not all that hard to figure out.
Of course, if you think Jesus walked with the dinosaurs, you might also think that the US is not really just 200-ish years old, so you may be on to something after all. :eek:

Re: Bonfire Night
 

You forgot Groundhog Day!

Re: Bonfire Night
 

ha! You're not pinning that one on me.


Historical origins
The groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

Perhaps the earliest known American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Historical Society of Berks County in Reading, Pennsylvania. The reference was made February 4, 1841 in Morgantown, Berks County, Pennsylvania storekeeper James Morris' diary: "Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans,[2] the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate." (Legend has it that the groundhog is a timid creature, and the sight of his own shadow will scare him.[1])

In the United States the tradition may also derive from a Scottish poem:

As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and snow
Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop

This tradition also stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day[3] and Groundhog Day. Candlemas, also known as the Purification of the Virgin or the Presentation, coincides with the earlier pagan observance Imbolc.

Just goes to show, there's nothing new under the sun.

Re: Bonfire Night
 

who remembers the rhyme...

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot to surrender,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

Re: Bonfire Night
 

Well you're all missing out. Here in the Free State of Maryland (Founded as a Catholic Colony, no less) we have, not 3 miles from my house, the "Center for Fawkwsian Pursuits" who are dedicated "to the celebration of the failure of the gunpowder plot", and have a 5th of November do every year.

Anyway, they're a bunch of old hippies who like to play with fire:



http://fifthofnovember.blogspot.com/

Re: Bonfire Night
 

Jealous.

BUT we do have a Toffee Apple making kit. And we nipped over the border to Wisconsin earlier this year and got some fireworks. Its funny, as soon as you hit the border it's, FIREWORKS & CHEESE signs all over.

I may (try) convince Mrs Emjoy to take us back up there to get more fireworks!!